Tri-City Rush to host Wenatchee Valley in indoor football championship on Saturday night

It’s been almost two months since the Tri-City Rush has played a competitive game.

But that doesn’t mean the team will be stale on Saturday when it hosts American West Bowl III, the championship game for the American West Football Conference.

The Rush (9-0) will be taking on the Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks (5-4), starting at 8 p.m. at the HAPO Center in Pasco.

For two years now, Brandon Tate’s Rush has been nothing but perfect in the AWFC.

The team hasn’t ever lost a game, and that includes winning last year’s title game over the Idaho Horsemen.

This squad ran over every team it played, led by Tri-City quarterback Ja’Vonte Johnson (1200 yards passing, 39 TD passes against 5 interceptions).

Johnson’s favorite targets are Dashun Salgado Jr., who has 26 receptions for 340 yards and 14 touchdowns; and Moe Strong, with 27 catches for 295 yards and 13 TDs.

Keithon Flemming — a long-time local who actually played with the old Tri-Cities Fever — leads the team in rushing with 150 yards.

On the defensive side, middle linebacker Greg Hancock has been in on 57 tackles.

Defensive lineman Zeus Jackson has 27 tackles and a league-leading 11 quarterback sacks, and defensive back Tyler Merkel has picked off 8 passes.

The Rush will take on a Skyhawks team that has suddenly found the end zone. They beat Idaho 80-70 in the playoff game to determine the Rush’s championship game opponent.

The Rush plays in a league that has had its problems: a Yakima franchise shut down just before the season’s start; another team from California that never got off the ground; a travel team that only played four games.

But those things never involved the Rush, which just showed up to every game, went about its business each day, and always won.

Tate and his team plan on that happening again Saturday night.

Tickets are still available on the tricityrush.com website, as well as at the HAPO Center.

Roundup

▪ After having to pull out of the Madison Regatta last week, the U-40 Miss Beacon Plumbing unlimited hydroplane team has announced the boat will be ready for the HAPO Columbia Cup that runs in the Tri-Cities on July 29-31.

Team owner Kelly Stocklin and driver Dave Villwock confirmed the team will compete here.

Villwock was driving during testing on the Ohio River last weekend when he hit a log that tore up both the propeller and the bottom of the boat. The team had to immediately withdraw from the event.

▪ The Ferenz name in Walla Walla continues to shine.

First, Michelle Ferenz has been an outstanding head coach for the Whitman College women’s basketball team for years.

Mikayla Ferenz — a standout at the University of Idaho — has been playing women’s professional basketball in Luxembourg the past few years.

And now Chris Ferenz — Michelle’s husband and Mikayla’s father — was named this spring as the athletic director for Walla Walla High School.

Ferenz has been a long time math teacher, coach (he took the Wa-Hi girls to state in 2015), and most recently has been the Dean of Students at Wa-Hi.

▪ Joe Power, who has been the defensive coordinator the past four seasons at Kiana-Benton High School, was recently named the school’s new head football coach.

Power replaces Ken Noel as head coach.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.